


us against the world

by ayzenigma



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Unnecessarily Dramatic Descriptions, i think it counts at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29455029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ayzenigma/pseuds/ayzenigma
Summary: “Just like old times, eh Caleb?”"Ja, indeed. Us against the world.” Caleb’s grin turns sharp — they are going towrecktheir opponents.
Relationships: Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast
Comments: 4
Kudos: 45





	us against the world

**Author's Note:**

  * For [smallerthanzero](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smallerthanzero/gifts).



> A gift for smallerthanzero for an intended-but-belated Critmas/Winter's Crest / now Valentines fic exchange! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I you like it!!

It’s the luck of the draw, in the end, that splits them up as they are.

The forest around them is lush, vibrant green where sunlight filters in through the foliage. Plenty of bushes and other undergrowth to hide or take cover in. In the distance, he can just hear the bubbling of a river. Definitely something to look out for.

“Just like old times, eh Caleb?” Veth’s voice pulls his attention away from his assessment of their surroundings.

“Ja, indeed. Us against the world.” Caleb can’t help but smile fondly down at his friend. They’ve come so far, seen so much, changed and grown inside and out. They are not the same people they had been when they first met, but their bond is a familiar comfort. As is their teamwork, which has only improved as their individual skills and abilities developed and they continued to fit together like puzzle pieces.

Caleb’s grin turns sharp — they are going to _wreck_ their opponents.

Veth must be something similar as she returns his grin with an almost giddy air about her. “Should we try one of our old strategies too? I don’t think Modern Literature will work now, but we can always try another one.”

Caleb hums. “We haven’t done Spider Eyes in a while. Rat Food could also work. The others don’t really apply though.” No Money Pot today. No easy-to-con targets out here.

“Oh, yes, those are fun. Any thoughts on where our enemy will be hiding? I can sneak past surprise them.”

“They are likely near the river, if I had to guess. Most easily defensible for them.” Caleb pauses as he recalls his mental map of these familiar woods. “There should also be a path that leads to a clearing. They will try to make that our battleground so we cannot hide as easily.”

“Do we give them what they want then? Bait them out, then go for the kill.” Veth’s eyes shine with excitement as she cocks her crossbow.

Caleb fishes a bit of fleece out of his pocket. “Well, we will at least make them think we are giving them what they want.” He crouches down so he is eye level with Veth. “It will mean we have to split up, which will make it more dangerous. But this is our best bet. Just be careful, okay?”

She looks him in the eye and says, “I can handle myself. They can’t hit what they can’t see. I’m more worried about _your_ squishy self without anyone to watch your back.”

Instead of responding he just snaps his fingers, popping Frumpkin into existence on his shoulder. He’s facing backwards, but turns his head to look at Veth.

“Frumpkin doesn’t count! But alright I get your point. Just give me a two minute head start, then we’ll give them hell. We’ve got this.”

With that, she pulls back and slinks in the direction of the river as Caleb had indicated. He stands, snapping his cat back to his pocket dimension, and starts counting as Veth’s halfling form disappears into the underbrush, vanishing from sight as she pulls up her hood.

They’ve got this.

* * *

They do have it. Veth sneaks ahead, invisible in every way that matters, checking in about status and positioning via one or the other of them casting Message and “youcanreplytothismessage.” The clearing is right where Caleb expected, and the rushing of the river is much closer now.

A little ways off from the clearing, Caleb pulls out his fleece again and casts. An illusory Veth shimmers into being at his side as the spell takes. Satisfied, he continues onward towards the clearing, moving slowly and carefully enough to feign an attempt at stealth.

Everything is going to plan.

Until it isn’t.

Right as his foot enters the clearing, a forceful impact drives the breath from his lungs. He looks down and sees red blossoming against his chest. Veth’s image, just barely peaking out of the undergrowth, flickers out of existence, concentration lost more from surprise than actual pain.

Caleb looks back up just in time to get hit again by the next attack. It sends him stumbling back into a tree, which he quickly ducks behind to get some cover from the flash of blue he spots across the clearing.

Well that happened a lot sooner than he had wanted. At least the lack of any fighting sound before this means Veth likely has not been discovered yet.

He does some quick calculations. Another handful of hits like that and he’d go down. But with his illusion dispersed, it would not be long before their opponents went searching for Veth, and he could not let that happen. A calculated risk, but worth it if he could buy her enough time to sneak around and find their target.

Decision made, Caleb gives his glove a tug and swings back into the clearing, aiming where he had seen the blue. A half second later, he curses when he sees his attacks miss, target no longer where he was aiming. He really should not have expected otherwise — he is familiar with his opponents speed after all.

Looking around quickly, he sees a flicker of movement right as another flurry of projectiles comes rocketing towards him. This time, Caleb manages to duck two of them, though the third and fourth still manage to clip him in the side. Instead of diving for cover this time, he presses forward, leaving the treeline behind and, hopefully, drawing his attacker’s full attention.

He knows there’s another one somewhere who hasn’t shown his hand yet, but he can’t focus on that just yet, not without a visible target at least.

Turning his attention to offense, Caleb attacks again, this time with clear knowledge of his target’s location as she hadn’t had the chance to hide again. She’s still dodgey as fuck, though, and for every hit he manages to get in, his opponent manages to hit him at least twice. She’s been practicing her ranged attacks, it seems. She hasn’t even tried to close the distance to punch him properly.

The next hit is a particularly forceful one that sends him sprawling, unable to get back up. On the ground, his mind whirls, running the time and numbers, calculating the odds Veth has succeeded on her side of the plan.

Just as he’s considering that there are too many variables to know for certain, he hears a shout.

“MOTHERFUCK!” Beau yells as an impact to her back pushes her into the clearing proper. Looks like Veth did manage to make it through. And if he knows her, that single shot was not all Beau should be expecting.

He’s proven correct when another bolt follows up the first, and Beau stumbles forward to collapse half on top of him. She has two large splotches of yellow on her back where Veth’s attacks hit, but her front is pretty splattered too. Looks like he may have gotten in more hits than he’d thought.

Caleb grins lightly as he hears Beau roll over and groan next to him. “I did not expect you to choose ranged combat today. Too bad it was not enough to prevent our victory.”

Beau swats at him weakly, catching him on his paint stained shoulder. “Shut up, you haven’t won yet.”

As she says that, they both hear a cry in the distance. “HA! I told you you and your twig arms couldn’t stop me!”

He smirks. “Sounds like we just did.”

He gets a solid punch to the shoulder for the teasing, but that doesn’t stop his quiet laughter at Beau’s put-out expression. She eventually gives in and smiles along.

The two of them are just pushing themselves to their feet when Veth bursts back into the clearing, waving a bright red flag in the air. They see Fjord following behind at a more sedate pace, sporting his own yellow paint splatter to match Beau’s.

“We did it, Caleb! Your plan worked perfectly, as usual.” Veth’s excitement is plainly visible on her face, though Caleb is not entirely sure if that’s more due to their victory or more to her getting one over on Fjord.

“ _Our_ plan, ja? And I would not say perfectly, but within the predicted margin of error at least.” He reaches down and brushes some leaves free from where they are caught in Veth’s braid. “You’re the one who made it work in the end.”

“Yeah, well done. I didn’t see you, like, at all.” Beau stretches with a slight grimace. “Did you have to shoot me in the ass though?”

“Absolutely. All’s fair in paintball and war.” Veth looks utterly unrepentant for her expert aim.

Beau just scoffs in response. “Not how the saying goes, but whatever.” She turns to Fjord as he joins their little cluster. “Sorry, captain. Looks like they got the best of us.”

“That’s alright, we’ll get them next time. For now though, why don’t we head over to the river? You two especially,” he looks between Beau and Caleb, “could stand to get cleaned up some before we return the equipment to Allura.”

“Ja alright, let’s go.” He looks Beauregard over as they start making their way to the banks. “You have paint in your hair.”

“And who’s fault is that, you dick?”

“Indeed. I’ll have to let Allura know the prototype magic-to-paint glove works wonderfully. Actually gave me a fighting chance for once.”

Veth nods as she follows, though she makes sure to keep away from the river banks as Fjord calls up a water spout to clean the three paint-covered members of their little party.

“Crossbow is great too. Shame you didn't get much of a chance to test out the sword, Fjord. I’m sure Kima would love the chance to give it a go with you.”

Fjord makes a face at that. “No thank you, I think I’ve had my ass kicked enough for today.” He looks pointedly at the yellow that’s just beginning to wash off his chest. “Besides, the sword’s mechanism is a lot more straightforward than managing magic conversions. The glove’s functionality was what we, well Caleb, was mainly testing.”

Caleb nods in agreement, summoning a flame to dry his coat. “It’s definitely functional. Hopefully next time there are enough for all of Nein of us to play. I think Jester especially will have fun with all this.”

He helps Beau and then Fjord dry off as well, the former groaning at whatever she is picturing. “You know she’s going to find a way to cover _everyone_ with paint. Bucketfuls, probably. Any chance we can choose our teams instead of drawing lots like today?”

That gets a laugh from both him and Fjord. “Sure, Beauregard. Whatever makes you feel better.”

As they make their way back to the office to return their paintballing equipment to Allura, Caleb hears Veth’s voice in his head.

_“So long as we’re together, we can beat them all. Youcanreplytothismessage.”_

He smiles. “Ja, we can.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Did you figure out what was happening before it was revealed? Let me know! 
> 
> Hope I didn't scare you when Caleb collapsed. It was all in good fun, after all.
> 
> Also, fun note: the cons/strategies mentioned (Modern Literature, Spider Eyes, Rat Food, and Money Pot) are all ones mentioned in canon! No idea what most of them actually entail, but whatever works.


End file.
